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The [iPad Thread] is coming soon to a Verizon Wireless retail store near you

The WiFi versions cost $499, $599, and $699 for 16, 32, and 64 gigs respectively, and 3G versions will cost $130 more. WiFi versions are available for purchase now, and the 3G versions will come later in April.

One of the forumers here, gearn, wrote up a review/editorial expressing his feelings toward the iPad, and it more or less sums up the feelings of many here who have actually used and purchased the device:

Alright, just wanted to give my own review here of the iPad for anyone who may be on the fence. I've had the iPad for like a week now so I'm well past the hype and novelty phase for the device. When I was first thinking of getting the iPad I had my doubts and reservations about whether or not this would be a device worth getting, even though there was no clear purpose for it as far as I could tell. These doubts still lingered on after my purchase.

But all that was blown away from the first moment I touched the screen.

Holy shit. There is definitely a "holy shit" factor to this device. Just holding it is intoxicating. It really is incredible how something so thin, and so light, could just be capable of so much power. I can honestly say that never in the history of the world has so much power been invested in the tap of a finger.

I was worried the keyboard was going to suck, but those thoughts all just vanished after about 2 seconds of typing on the touch screen. It was amazing, better than I though it would be. I didn't give a shit. And the screen? Christ, I didn't expect it to be this good, it's just weird how awesome it is, the viewing angle is amazing, this isn't like a fucking big iPhone, it's not a fucking big iPhone at all with a screen like this. This completely changes the device alone.

Everywhere I went, the iPad won hearts and minds. Not a day has gone by where people haven't asked me about my iPad. The question is always the same "Well, how do you like your iPad?". Like? I love this shit. My laptop has not left my room in god knows how long. There's just no need. I carry the iPad with me to classes and type up notes like it's no problem. And the classes in which I can't really type notes, carrying the iPad is much better than carrying a comparatively heavy ass laptop (and my laptop is a fucking unibody Macbook!).

The browsing experience is just completely incredible. I worried about what the lack of flash on the iPad would mean, but now I don't give a shit and frankly as far as I'm concerned Adobe could fucking collapse and close it's doors forever and the world would be a better place. I could care less but I won't because frankly Photoshop is still pretty popular with most people and is probably worth keeping Adobe around for.

But the browsing, it totally rocks. It's like having a browser window ripped off from my computer screen and just floating around with me wherever I go. And the experience of touching things is so intuitive, we've all clicked buttons, but have you ever touched a button? It's an incredible feeling.

I took my iPad to a Starbucks on campus, originally just intending to pick up some coffee and leave, but while I was waiting for the barista to hand me my drink I heard a girl behind me say "Oh cool an iPad!" I turned around and then of course then she asked me what I thought about it and we ended up chatting for a bit about various things. End result? Scored a date for the weekend with an attractive girl (and now we got a second one lined up).

I also took the iPad to my sisters house where her kids (who are 3 and 5 years old) instantly took the device and started flying through apps with incredible ease. I purchased a kid app for the 3 year old and he played it very well. I realized then, that when these kids grow up, and they go to buy a computer, chances are the first brand they're going to turn to is Apple, the one they've known since they were born.

And it isn't just little kids who love the device. I was at a bookstore sitting in the magazine section just reading some stuff on the internet when an old lady sitting in a chair next to me pointed out my iPad to her husband, amazed by it. They asked me all sorts of old people questions about the device and I offered to let them use it. Surprisingly they found it easy to use and understand, all they had to do was touch whatever they wanted to see, and type whatever they wanted to search in a box, it was easy! It was then that the old man declared that his life was "complete". He had finally been able to actually use a computer, and even made his first google search. I don't think you guys appreciate the significance of this, this is a man who has probably lived through a Great Depression, the invention of TV, World War II, the start of Commercial Air Travel, the Moon Landings, the cuban missile crisis, the JFK assasination, Nixon, vietnam, the fall of the soviet union, computers, a black president, and it was only NOW, at THIS moment, with THIS device, that he could really feel his life was complete. Computers were no longer complex mysterious devices to him, he now understood how to use it and what it was for. He was now just beginning to grasp the vastness of the internet. I told him about the Apple store in the mall where he could go get one, and how there is always an Apple employee that comes up to help you from the moment you walk in, and that was really all he needed. He left, presumably to go visit the store he had never dared to venture in before. It was incredible.

Aside from school, I do some part time wedding photography to earn money, and I usually have to carry around this big ass album of photos to clients to show them my work, but last week I decided to say fuck it and just take my iPad and SD card. It was a risk, but they loved the photos on the iPad's screen and the presentation went very well. They called me a few days later to tell me they wanted me to take pictures at their wedding. Awesome.

There is no question that the iPad is going to be successful. We can already see that it's going to be imitated, but NEVER duplicated. This is because other manufacturers just don't "get it". It's amazing really, they're going to come out with these thick, heavier tablets with moving parts and visible screws and say "Here's our tablet... and a list of features you don't give a shit about." and then call it a day. Why the fuck do they even bother? Seriously, this is the old way of making shit, come to the 21st century where everything is sleek, silent, seamless and smooth yet hard and durable as fuck. If you can see the seams where the device was put together they blew it. If their device requires moving parts they blew it. If their device makes any noises when you shake it or it bends slightly with enough force they blew it. Without these issues resolved, they shouldn't have even tried to make a commercial product, they should have done it purely as an academic exercise.

It wasn't all rosy though. I did have one cynic confront me. It was on my morning bus ride to a class and I was about to get off at my stop when another guy said "hehe, why did you waste money on that overrated tablet?". I took one look at his greasy hair, his shitty grin, his ill-fitting shirt, the netbook at his side with a linux penguin sticker wielding a chain saw pasted on it, and then I looked him dead in the eye and simply said "It's a Mac thing, you wouldn't understand."

I got off the bus and walked to class (where I would soon find one of my friends showing people some apps on his new iPad).

Yea, the iPad probably has less features and pieces and gizmos than the other clone tablets coming out. For it's premium price, you'd have to be blissfully ignorant to buy one... and that is why you should.

Just wanted to pop in and say that the app StreamToMe works like a charm for playing your movies.
I fired it up, it found my movies folder on my Macbook, and started playing an .avi file in seconds. Now if I could only get Wake On Lan working it'd be perfect; keep the Mac asleep, and use the iPad to play videos at any time.

Epicurious is a fantastic cookbook app that also lets you set a shopping list for whatever recipe you decide you're going to be making from it. And as a silly aside, the title screen was one of the first things visually that made my jaw drop. Silly, I know, but that picture really shows off the sharpness of the display.
The only thing Epicurious is missing is online shopping list storage that syncs to the iPhone version

I'm not about to bring my iPad to the grocery store but man do I love looking through recipes on it and referencing it while I cook

I made Roast Chicken Breasts with Tomato and Garbanzo Beans last night with the iPad propped up on the counter and it turned out great.

So I just grabbed AirVideo for the iPad(it's universal now). That is some hot shit right there. You run the free server software on you PC or Mac and point the server at your video folder and it will stream it to your device. It will even convert the videos as it's streaming so you can watch .avi videos on your iPad. There's a free demo which limits the number of fils you see to 3, but for $3, this thing is a steal. Works over the Internet too, not just local wifi.

More recommendations are on the way! If you would like to recommend an app, write up a small review or impressions for it in this thread and I'll include it in the OP. I'll try to keep up with it, but if I miss your review, send me a quick PM and I'll include it.

Posts

Haha, I was just working on an OP myself. This is what I had for apps reccomendations, you decide what to do with them:

Media streaming:
This is a little more tricky, I think there are two main contenders: Zumocast and AirVideo. Zumocast is free (though there are premium possibilities, details are unclear), allows you to download files to your iPad, stream stuff over the internet and is generally pretty good.
Airvideo isn't free, but you can set your computer to convert videos to an iPad format, and then have those added to iTunes. Quality of these files is very good.
Which one you use is up to you, I use both. Airvideo when possible and Zumocast when not.

Comic Readers:
There are a bunch. I use comiczeal comic reader, which looks and works very nice, but there's also official apps by Marvel and DC, which allow you to buy comics from within the app. Some awesome magic is that you can use zumocast to download a comic, open it in comiczeal and then the comic is available to you offline.

Office apps:
There are two big names: Quickoffice Connect and Documents to Go. I use Documents to Go, bought it because it is an universal app, though I've yet to use it on my iPhone. From images, Quickoffice connect seems to have a nicer interface, but you can't can't edit or create Powerpoint files. Both have premium versions that allow integration with dropbox and other online services (which is really handy)

Note-taking apps
Nobody likes the built-in app (the font is horrible) so alternatives! Soundnote allows you to write notes while recording audio, and the spoken language is connected to what you type. Fantastic for college students (I speak from experience). Audiotorium is similar, has more options but doesn't allow you to draw through your writing.
If you want to take notes with your finger there's Note Taker HD, which uses an innovative system that shrinks your text down after you've drawn it. Videos explain it better. For very simple, short notes there's evernote, which is great for syncing notes across devices and the internet. Free, so you can't go wrong

Games!
There are a lot of games for iPad, in a lot of different genres. A select few:
Angry Birds HD: It's Angry Birds, bigger screen, bigger price.
Pinball HD: Very nice pinball game. Three tables, high quality graphics and a good diversion.
Cut the Rope HD: Fun physics puzzler, very good-looking too.
Real Racing HD: No experience with this, but a lot of people like it.
Super Mega Worm: Arcade-ish game where you are a worm and need to eat all people and destroy the world. Very addicting
The Incident: You tilt the iPad to dodge falling objects. Nice 8-bit music and graphics, warning: you may look silly while playing this game.
Plants vs. Zombies: Popcap meets tower defense. The result is nothing less than awesome
Uzu: Not a game, but a visualiser. The best way to show off your iPad

Wow, that looks pretty impressive. I wish it had a Lite version. Aside from being hard, is it worth the $10?

For those who didn't notice, the latest update of iCab Mobile has a few settings hidden away in Settings.app that add some memory management to the app. You can turn on a Low Memory warning that will appear as a thin colored strip along the bottom of the screen (it's really unobtrusive, which is nice) that lets you know when the app is running low on RAM so you can kill some tabs. You can also let it kill older tabs for you instead of just crashing while it's trying to allocate more memory, so that should clear up some of the issues people have with it while browsing.

Wow, that looks pretty impressive. I wish it had a Lite version. Aside from being hard, is it worth the $10?

Is it worth $10? To me? No. Because I can't freakin' win a game so it's really just frustrating as hell. I just wish Total Annihilation would come to iPad...

I did also buy Blue Defense which I really enjoy. Actualy, at first I hated Blue Defense until I changed the control scheme so that you just touch as many fingers as you want to shoot in multiple directions. After that I loved it.

I've recently discovered that I'm much better at Super Mega Worm on my iPad than on my iPhone. I can't wait until we get Game Center on there so I can compare my score against everyone else and realize that I'm not nearly as good at it as I think I am.

I really wish I had a good online multiplayer game on my iPad where I could just go in and screw around at my leisure, maybe building stuff or whatever. Wurm Online or Minecraft or something like that on the iPad would awesome. Anything like that exist at the moment?

Haha, I was just working on an OP myself. This is what I had for apps reccomendations, you decide what to do with them:

Media streaming:
This is a little more tricky, I think there are two main contenders: Zumocast and AirVideo. Zumocast is free (though there are premium possibilities, details are unclear), allows you to download files to your iPad, stream stuff over the internet and is generally pretty good.
Airvideo isn't free, streaming is only possible over LAN (though the quality is better) but you can set your computer to convert videos to an iPad format, and then have those added to iTunes. Quality of these files is very good.
Which one you use is up to you, I use both. Airvideo when possible and Zumocast when not

Haha, I was just working on an OP myself. This is what I had for apps reccomendations, you decide what to do with them:

Media streaming:
This is a little more tricky, I think there are two main contenders: Zumocast and AirVideo. Zumocast is free (though there are premium possibilities, details are unclear), allows you to download files to your iPad, stream stuff over the internet and is generally pretty good.
Airvideo isn't free, streaming is only possible over LAN (though the quality is better) but you can set your computer to convert videos to an iPad format, and then have those added to iTunes. Quality of these files is very good.
Which one you use is up to you, I use both. Airvideo when possible and Zumocast when not

Airvideo works over the net very well actually.

I've fiddled with it thousands of times, it never worked for me, and the server still refers to acces from the internet as being in beta, so I figured it didn't work because of that. Zumocast worked instantly for me.

Depends entirely on how you plan to use it. I've got a wifi 16 gb model, haven't really had need to pull it out for Internet related tasks while on the go. I've got an iPhone 4 if I need to do something online. Without wifi I still have plenty of ebooks to read on the Kindle app, cached news feeds in Reeder, and more games than I know what to with. If I need to write anything I'll either use my phone or type it out using something like Simplenote and let it sync back to the cloud when I get online next.

Only time I really thought 'damn, I wish I had wifi' was on a business trip and the hotel didn't have in-room wifi. This was prior to 4.1 being released, so I just tethered my iPad to my iPhone for browsing and such.

Haha, I was just working on an OP myself. This is what I had for apps reccomendations, you decide what to do with them:

Media streaming:
This is a little more tricky, I think there are two main contenders: Zumocast and AirVideo. Zumocast is free (though there are premium possibilities, details are unclear), allows you to download files to your iPad, stream stuff over the internet and is generally pretty good.
Airvideo isn't free, streaming is only possible over LAN (though the quality is better) but you can set your computer to convert videos to an iPad format, and then have those added to iTunes. Quality of these files is very good.
Which one you use is up to you, I use both. Airvideo when possible and Zumocast when not

Airvideo works over the net very well actually.

I've fiddled with it thousands of times, it never worked for me, and the server still refers to acces from the internet as being in beta, so I figured it didn't work because of that. Zumocast worked instantly for me.

You probably need port forwarding in your router straightened out.
Works fine here. I don't use the PIN though since it relies on their server. I simply got a dynamic dns host and used that to find my server while out and about.

Haha, I was just working on an OP myself. This is what I had for apps reccomendations, you decide what to do with them:

Media streaming:
This is a little more tricky, I think there are two main contenders: Zumocast and AirVideo. Zumocast is free (though there are premium possibilities, details are unclear), allows you to download files to your iPad, stream stuff over the internet and is generally pretty good.
Airvideo isn't free, streaming is only possible over LAN (though the quality is better) but you can set your computer to convert videos to an iPad format, and then have those added to iTunes. Quality of these files is very good.
Which one you use is up to you, I use both. Airvideo when possible and Zumocast when not

Airvideo works over the net very well actually.

I've fiddled with it thousands of times, it never worked for me, and the server still refers to acces from the internet as being in beta, so I figured it didn't work because of that. Zumocast worked instantly for me.

You probably need port forwarding in your router straightened out.
Works fine here. I don't use the PIN though since it relies on their server. I simply got a dynamic dns host and used that to find my server while out and about.

Yeah port forwarding is impossible with my router unfortunately, which is why it made me happy that zumocast just worked. That's the kind of magic I like.

So, I'm really leaning towards picking up an iPad, but the last real question I have is in regards to the input.

For those of you who use it as a primary internet device, how convenient is it to actually make forum posts and such on? That's my big concern. I like sitting on the couch and being able to make posts, which aren't always short. And since that's mainly the role I'd be filling with the iPad, if it isn't going to be comfortable doing that, I should probably just go for the Air instead.

The 3g on the iPad is one of the big draws for me over the Air, as I don't have an iPhone, and using it out and about would be nice. In those situations I'd plan on having the wireless keyboard to use, but when I'm at home, it doesn't seem very feasible to sit the iPad in my lap and somehow manage to use the keyboard at the same time.

Is it just something you kind of adapt to, or would I likely need to totally revamp my surfing habits with the iPad?

If the air had 3G, and i didn't already own an iPad, it would be my next computing purchase, easy. I'm typing this on an iPad, with the onscreen keyboard. Its not as fast as it would be if I had my wireless keyboard with me, but it's good enough, for what it is. I do find i tend to zoom in and out a bit on the iPad when I'm reading the forums, it can get annoying. The extra real estate on the air would probably help a lot in that regard.

If the air had 3G, and i didn't already own an iPad, it would be my next computing purchase, easy. I'm typing this on an iPad, with the onscreen keyboard. Its not as fast as it would be if I had my wireless keyboard with me, but it's good enough, for what it is. I do find i tend to zoom in and out a bit on the iPad when I'm reading the forums, it can get annoying. The extra real estate on the air would probably help a lot in that regard.

The "pay as you go" 3G really is just a huge draw that I'm willing to make quite a few compromises for it.

Really, I plan on doing a lot of writing on it, but with a nice case and the keyboard, that's fine. Plus, with the lack of multiple windows open at the same time, it'll actually probably be better for my writing, all things considered.

But when doing that sort of typing, I'm at a table or something, so it's not a huge issue. But like right now, I'm sitting next to my fiance, with my macbook in my lap while we're watching Psych. But it's a position that just doesn't feel like it would be as workable on an iPad.

But then again, my sister can throw out whole paragraphs on my cellphone in seconds, so I want to say that it only feels weird in my head because I've just always used a normal keyboard. It seems like I should be able to get fast enough on the iPad just fine, so long as I use it.

Also, I'm leaning towards the 64gb model at the moment. I plan to have music, some shows/movies, and quite a few games. So I'm guessing that's definitely the best model? I mean, I've hardly put a dent in my Touches 16gig memory. But that's partially because I have very little interest in watching anything on that tiny screen.

So, I'm really leaning towards picking up an iPad, but the last real question I have is in regards to the input.

For those of you who use it as a primary internet device, how convenient is it to actually make forum posts and such on? That's my big concern. I like sitting on the couch and being able to make posts, which aren't always short. And since that's mainly the role I'd be filling with the iPad, if it isn't going to be comfortable doing that, I should probably just go for the Air instead.

The 3g on the iPad is one of the big draws for me over the Air, as I don't have an iPhone, and using it out and about would be nice. In those situations I'd plan on having the wireless keyboard to use, but when I'm at home, it doesn't seem very feasible to sit the iPad in my lap and somehow manage to use the keyboard at the same time.

Is it just something you kind of adapt to, or would I likely need to totally revamp my surfing habits with the iPad?

I'll be honest, I don't make nearly as many posts when I'm using my iPad. The virtual keyboard works fairly well, and I'm still surprised at how fast I can type on it, but it still can't compare to an actual physical keyboard. Special characters and certain punctuation especially can slow your typing to a crawl on the virtual keyboard. So in my case, it's usable, but I've definitely had to adjust some of my browsing habits (some for better, some for worse). If you like to sit in your living room and also expect to do a lot of typing, I honestly would not recommend the iPad. That's just my personal opinion, and others may be much faster on the virtual keyboard than I am so they might disagree. For what it's worth, I'm making this post on an iPad right now, and though it didn't take me an unreasonably long time, I still feel like it would have gone much faster on a laptop.

As for 3G, that's something you'll have to figure out on your own. I got the 3G version, and have made very little use of it. However, I also have an iPhone 4, so having another 3G device with me just isn't that vital. I'd say to make notes of your daily usage habits, and evaluate how a 3G iPad might fit into it. Do you really need 3G, or would it just be nice to have? If it's the latter, perhaps its something you could live without. I certainly found that to be the case for myself.

The other thing to think about is battery life. If you need long life, the iPad is king, no contest, so keep that in mind.

Actually, I have one other question. Would it be stupid of me to pick up an iPad now when it'll possibly see a refresh in January?

It depends on when they actually start selling them. If they follow this year's schedule, you won't see a 2nd Gen 3G iPad until almost May. Or they could push it up earlier in the year, we just don't know. Either way, you'll be waiting 3-6 months if you hold out for the refresh.

In terms of 3G, me and my fiance are almost constantly going "you know, it would be really nice if we had a smartphone right now." so I know we'd use it even in day-to-day.

However, we also go geocaching, in which having a 3g device would be incredibly handy.

iPad + 3G + Gewglezmapz = el oh el.

You should consider though that the iPad is awesome as a portable browser. That's pretty much what it is when it comes down to it. It's very slick at that function mind you, and it works very well. It is fast, it's intuitive to use, and it has incredible battery life.

To each their own, but as a Soldier this thing is amazingly useful. Seriously the Army needs to start issuing this shit to Joes. (LOL)

So, I'm really leaning towards picking up an iPad, but the last real question I have is in regards to the input.

For those of you who use it as a primary internet device, how convenient is it to actually make forum posts and such on? That's my big concern. I like sitting on the couch and being able to make posts, which aren't always short. And since that's mainly the role I'd be filling with the iPad, if it isn't going to be comfortable doing that, I should probably just go for the Air instead.

The 3g on the iPad is one of the big draws for me over the Air, as I don't have an iPhone, and using it out and about would be nice. In those situations I'd plan on having the wireless keyboard to use, but when I'm at home, it doesn't seem very feasible to sit the iPad in my lap and somehow manage to use the keyboard at the same time.

Is it just something you kind of adapt to, or would I likely need to totally revamp my surfing habits with the iPad?

I'll be honest, I don't make nearly as many posts when I'm using my iPad. The virtual keyboard works fairly well, and I'm still surprised at how fast I can type on it, but it still can't compare to an actual physical keyboard. Special characters and certain punctuation especially can slow your typing to a crawl on the virtual keyboard. So in my case, it's usable, but I've definitely had to adjust some of my browsing habits (some for better, some for worse). If you like to sit in your living room and also expect to do a lot of typing, I honestly would not recommend the iPad. That's just my personal opinion, and others may be much faster on the virtual keyboard than I am so they might disagree. For what it's worth, I'm making this post on an iPad right now, and though it didn't take me an unreasonably long time, I still feel like it would have gone much faster on a laptop.

The solution is to get a bluetooth keyboard. I am currently posting using my iPad and bluetooth keyboard and it works perfectly. I've been using this setup a whole lot lately and it serves my needs perfectly, in terms of browsing, posting, emailing, etc. It's much easier to type on than the virutal keyboard, and the Apple keyboards are tiny and light and perfectly portable, if you are worried about needing to do work on the road. I'd imagine that an iPad and one of these keyboards is still lighter than an Air, and definitely cheaper, so if you don't need the extra functionality of a full computer I think this would work quite well.

I use my iPad (Wifi) and my Apple Wireless Keyboard whenever I travel. I already use the keyboard with my desktop PC, so it's just a matter of taking it with me if I'm going to need to do any typing. Works perfect, still light, portable, and no wires to deal with.

It wasn't the "out and about" stuff that I was worried about. I already planned on getting the official apple case + the wireless keyboard. My only real concern was when sitting on the couch. Like right now, I've got my macbook on my lap/knees, which obviously I couldn't do with an iPad/keyboard combo. So I was just concerned with how easy it was to type on the virtual keyboard. But I figure I'll get used to it.

Edit: Actually, quick question. Is there anyway to customize the virtual keyboard? I noticed at the Apple store yesterday that for some god awful reason, the main keyboard has an exclamation point, but no apostrophe. Is there anyway to change that, or am I just going to have to rely on the autocomplete a lot?

It wasn't the "out and about" stuff that I was worried about. I already planned on getting the official apple case + the wireless keyboard. My only real concern was when sitting on the couch. Like right now, I've got my macbook on my lap/knees, which obviously I couldn't do with an iPad/keyboard combo. So I was just concerned with how easy it was to type on the virtual keyboard. But I figure I'll get used to it.

Edit: Actually, quick question. Is there anyway to customize the virtual keyboard? I noticed at the Apple store yesterday that for some god awful reason, the main keyboard has an exclamation point, but no apostrophe. Is there anyway to change that, or am I just going to have to rely on the autocomplete a lot?

You can't change the keyboard layout (aside from choosing a language) but you van type an apostrophe by flicking upwards on the comma key.

It wasn't the "out and about" stuff that I was worried about. I already planned on getting the official apple case + the wireless keyboard. My only real concern was when sitting on the couch. Like right now, I've got my macbook on my lap/knees, which obviously I couldn't do with an iPad/keyboard combo. So I was just concerned with how easy it was to type on the virtual keyboard. But I figure I'll get used to it.

Edit: Actually, quick question. Is there anyway to customize the virtual keyboard? I noticed at the Apple store yesterday that for some god awful reason, the main keyboard has an exclamation point, but no apostrophe. Is there anyway to change that, or am I just going to have to rely on the autocomplete a lot?

You can't change the keyboard layout (aside from choosing a language) but you van type an apostrophe by flicking upwards on the comma key.

Shit, i had no 'idea' about that 'apostrophe' trick. That saves so much tiiiiime! 'hooray'!

One of my neatest 3G iPad moments was being interstate and not sure i boarded the right tram, so i pulled up maps and watched my little blue dot travel along the screen until I was sure i was going in the right direction.

You can use the ipad to type on the couch, but you most likely wouldn't, because it can be really awkward. But with a bluetooth apple keyboard and a little stand, its pretty awesome for input. The only hassle is having to reach for the screen to edit, it just isn't as accurate or fast as a mouse.

It wasn't the "out and about" stuff that I was worried about. I already planned on getting the official apple case + the wireless keyboard. My only real concern was when sitting on the couch. Like right now, I've got my macbook on my lap/knees, which obviously I couldn't do with an iPad/keyboard combo. So I was just concerned with how easy it was to type on the virtual keyboard. But I figure I'll get used to it.

Edit: Actually, quick question. Is there anyway to customize the virtual keyboard? I noticed at the Apple store yesterday that for some god awful reason, the main keyboard has an exclamation point, but no apostrophe. Is there anyway to change that, or am I just going to have to rely on the autocomplete a lot?

Depending on the setup of your living room you could put the iPad on a table and the keyboard on your lap, the official case will prop it up vertically so it would be easy to see. As someoone else mentioned reaching out to tap the screen to edit would be a little awkward, but doable.

This setup is awesome in bed, though, which is where I am right now. Legs crossed, iPad propped on my knees and keyboard just below, so much lighter and cooler than using my laptop.

So, now having the iPad, i've got to say that my fears were totally unfounded. Even having only been on the thing for a couple minutes, it feels like the speed loss has really been minimal. Just a few issues with a rogue finger tapping a different key, but that is pretty easily gotten used to.